OK Who Went and Flipped Reality on Me?
by Nile
Summary: A young woman who thought the Harry Potter world to be nothing but a cute kid's novel setting is proven wrong when she experiences some interdimension travel courtesy the Weasley twins
1. Reality gets flipped, courtesy the Weasl...

"Bloody hell! What did I just step on?!"  
  
"SUSH!!!"  
  
Unfortunately the whispered order from one George Weasley to his twin didn't matter. The barely conscious young woman in the bed in front of them only became more awake.  
  
A few minutes of silence and then their obvious British broke the silence of the farmhouse. "Look, we are going to have to wake her up eventually," he hissed lowly, "but lets try not to scare the livin' daylights out of her!"  
  
Said girl- who was completely unaware her intruders were the Weasley twins- was currently thinking of what would be the best way to scare the living daylights out of them so she could get out of her room and get her parents bedroom. Screw being an independent teenager. She wanted her shotgun- wielding daddy!  
  
"Ah come on Georgie. I've been working on a new Frightium charm and it'll scare her pants off-"  
  
Judith Nichols stealthily gripped her sheets, waiting for the right moment to throw them off and run.  
  
"Sush. Sorry bro. I know I'd love to, but remember Dumbledore's whole speech. He was dead serious. We need this girl on our side. Anything to put her off is too be discouraged."  
  
Her hand slowly relaxed and she blinked into the ceiling. Dumbledore? What the-- Harry Potter?  
  
"Are you going to do the honors or me?"  
  
Sucking up her courage she raised her voice before her fears could get to her. "I'll do the honors." Following her announcement she could hear their startled stumbling and creative cursing in that quaint British accent. Reaching over to her nightstand she gripped her small wind up alarm clock -antique or not- seeing that it was the best weapon within distance and with her other hand turned her lamp on. What met her eyes, after straining to look over the bed, were the twins: haphazardly strewn over the floor space. One was hanging onto the doorknob for dear life and the other with his long limbs strewn over the mess of books she had been keeping on her floor. IN NEAT PILES! One of his arms was also dragging down her laundry hamper with the clothes on top of it now falling over his head. Despite the situation a quick giggle escaped her. These guys couldn't be murders... They looked like they were too afraid of being eaten alive at the moment.  
  
The two quickly recovered though, as she settled back into her bed and made sure all her body parts were discretely covered by her pj's and covers. With big grins and some excessive hand flourishing they introduced themselves.  
  
"Judith Nichols... May I introduce to you myself. . . I am Fred Weasley and my brother here is George."  
  
Judith blinked.  
  
The infamous Weasley twins, from the Harry Potter books, By J.K. Rowling, in HER bedroom?  
  
She broke into hysterical laughter. The twins shared a nervous look.  
  
"IMPOSSIBLE! You expect me to believe that you two," and she pointed, "that you two are REAL? What are you going to tell me next? That Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is real and what. . . that you're delivering my acceptance letter- even though I don't have a drop of magic in me?"  
  
Another look was passed between the two and Fred spoke up. "Well, yes actually." Judith snorted in disbelief.  
  
"Prove it."  
  
Fred stepped forward immediately, a mischievous grin firmly in place and then from underneath the muggle shirt he was wearing pulled out his plain old wand and whispered the Frightium charm. His face then transformed into a horrible rotting version of his own.  
  
The girl's eyes shut tight at the realism and when she peaked them open again his face was normal and the twins were shaking hands.  
  
"Good show bro! You've been working on that one haven't you! Still, she didn't scream. Bogey..."  
  
As the two chattered for a moment the implications of what occurred started to sink in. Fred and George Weasley were in front of her. They were delivering her acceptance letter to Hogwarts and that meant magic was real. The books she had read were fact?  
  
Her breathing came a little more quickly and is a disjointed way she realized she was going into shock.  
  
*THUNK*  
  
A book plopped next to her and she looked up and into their grinning faces.  
  
"Sorry about that Judith but you were slightly zoning out on us there. Plus the headmaster said we were supposed to get you into our world as soon as possible so you might want to start packing."  
  
"Not to mention, these Choco Transports," Fred interrupted and he lifted up a small box of innocent looking chocolates. "Are starting to melt. I wouldn't want to know what would happen if they completely melt. Probably loose all their transporting ability and Dumbledore had to make then specially."  
  
George snickered, "I'm surprised he didn't eat them all while making them." Fred laughed.  
  
"Chop chop then."  
  
Judith blinked, still lost in the fog of shock but one thought did strike her quickly. "What about my parents!"  
  
The boys' grins immediately mutated into something devilish. "What about them?"  
  
She rolled her eyes as she pushed aside the covers and a look of disappointment flickered in their eyes when she revealed that she was mundanely wearing pj pants and a summer-camp T-shirt. Sitting on the edge of the bed she looked at them expectantly.  
  
"What?" They asked simultaneously and amused.  
  
"What exactly! What am I supposed to tell my parents?" She turned her head to the side and began a mock conversation with her parents. "Hi mum, dad! Guess what? A couple of fictional characters decided to pop in and take me with them for an undisclosed amount of time but I don't care. That's okay? Great. I'll just commence packing and possibly see you- whenever! Love you! Bye." She blew a mock kiss and then turned back to the boys and glowered. "It's not going to work."  
  
"Well that's why your not going to tell them anything." Fred said innocently and then George intoned: "Whenever it is that you return, Dumbledore said you'd be returned to almost the exact point in time. So you won't be missed at all."  
  
"They'll wake up and find their precious daughter like they left her."  
  
"-That is excluding, however, all possible mishaps during travel and your time spent at Hogwarts." Their innocent look and small smile never wavered.  
  
One of them -she couldn't tell which- leaned in closer and theatrically wiggled his fingers. "Dangerous place that Hogwarts is."  
  
Again she rolled her eyes but couldn't help the grin that crept at the corners of her mouth.  
  
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she said sarcastically.  
  
"Good! Now hurry up with the packing," with that they immediately lost interest in her and started snooping through her stuff.  
  
She shook her head. Weird. There was no other word for the situation. Not only was it- Judith looked down at her clock- 3am, but she was soon to be whisked off into the greater magical area of Great Britain where the dark wizard: Voldemort was rising in power. Despite the fact that he was probably soon to attack and likely kill people her current concern was only that she had no idea what a muggle was supposed to pack for Magic school. She must have skipped over the shock already and dived into detached surrealism.  
  
While thoughts about the possibility that this could all be because of a sudden onslaught of insanity she ripped open her closet.  
  
"How long will I be gone?" she said over her shoulder, while contemplating her selection. It took a moment for the boys to answer since they were concentrating more on some of her interesting muggle trinkets.  
  
"Dumbledore thought you might ask but only said he'd be contactin' you immediately after you arrive; depending on how you react to what he has to ask you, you might return home immediately or. . . After a while."  
  
One of her eyebrows rose at that comment but she just began throwing various things onto her bed as she thought about the climate of Britain. WET was the first thought to come to her mind so she threw in her long trench coat, sweaters and jeans. Taking into account the possibility of a snowy winter she even dragged out her winter coat. Various other articles were added to the carefully folded pile like her underwear, which she snuck in while the twins had their backs turned, examining her TV. When she thought she had enough to cover a month she walked down the hall to the spare bedroom and dragged back her grandmother's antique truck; it didn't take long to filled most of it.  
  
Fred and George split up to explore such 'innovative muggle inventions' as the light switch in the hall and the freezer under the stairs.  
  
Amidst flickering lights and one of the guy's comments on how amazing little time it took to get his toes to turn blue, Judith threw in a few of her trinkets and photos. Then, from the sounds of it, the twins then moved onto going through the toy shelf. She wondered briefly if they had the foresight to cast a silencing charm sometime. They must have, since her mother hadn't come running down the stairs with a frothing mouth when a couple of game boxes toppled over. . . .Her mother had the tendency to be extremely irritated when woken up mid sleep.  
  
When she considered herself near finished she looked around her room once more and her gaze landed on the book: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". 'How ironic' she mentally grunted to herself 'I just finish reading the thing and I then get sucked into it'.  
  
Seeing that she wouldn't have to put up with library fines while she was gone- that is if she ever returned, she suddenly thought with slight bit of fear- she shoved the book into the side of the trunk. The twins would get a kick out of it and maybe even Harry, if she ever ran into the kid. On that thought she also grabbed the her cd collection which included the soundtrack to the motion picture to the first movie, her disc man and a couple of packets of extra batteries. Who knew when she'd come in contact with a regular muggle convenience store that sold double A's.  
  
After getting dressed in a long skirt and a sleeved shirt, she closed her trunk up and dragged it into the hallway. When she looked up she found the guys comfortably lounging in a mess of board game pieces and toys on their way to being disassembled.  
  
Immediately the two stood up and gave a mock military salute, which she returned in good humor. Fred, though she didn't know it was Fred, stepped up and murmured a charm that shrunk her luggage which he then presented to her looking like it belonged more to one of the dismembered Barbies than her.  
  
George was picking up the box of chocolates. "Oh and just before we get going... Do you mind if we swipe a few of these things off of you?" He held up a battered up monopoly game box, a battery operated electronic car from the show NightRider, and a Chinese finger trap. Judith laughed at their fascination of such simple things. However she was quickly frowning when she noticed the mess they'd made. When she returned home it better be early enough on the same day to clean up their mess before her mother found it or else she was dead meat. She didn't dare to think of the possibility of not coming home. Giving herself her quick shake she refused to entertain those kinds of thoughts.  
  
"Lets get a move on before my conscience starts telling me how bad of an idea or impossible it is for this to be happening..."  
  
George smiled and passed her a chocolate. "Right. Well all you have to do is eat the chocolate and as soon as you swallow you're transported."  
  
She took the chocolate and popped it into her mouth. The twins followed suit and as she gripped her compressed luggage in her palm she swallowed.  
  
TBC 


	2. Reality's dimensions are messing with my...

She had closed her eyes tightly after she had swallowed and after a moment reopened then at the feel of a slight breeze at her ankles. What met her eyes fascinated her! Daylight lit cute little shops that seemed to be busting at the seems.   
  
. . .Wait. . . Daylight? OH yes the time change from Western Canada to Britain was a couple hours! Here it would be about noon or something like it. 'geesh am I ever going to be suffering from jetlag,' she thought.  
'except I didn't arrive here on a jet.'   
  
A snigger escaped her as she continued to gaze around with tea saucer eyes.   
  
The twins were in front of her a second later and grinned at her jaw-dropped state. "Miss Nichols may we present Diagon Alley." Both boys swept their arms aside in a grandiose gesture and she smiled.   
  
"Now before you run off on us like a smitten pup we have to get you to Dumbledore."   
  
"Right," George complied and both boys stepped back, linked an arm each with her, and proceeded to pompously stroll her down the alley.   
  
Judith's feet complied but her head was on a constant swivel turning this way and that taking in the different shops. One with a particularly fascinating window display had bubbles coming out of the chimney! People too were catching her eye. The arrays of bright colors some sported were very lovely and they were all wearing robes. None of them had 'muggle' clothes on like she did and some of them even stopped and stared at _her_ while she stared at them.   
  
"What an interesting outfit..." an elder woman whispered close by.   
  
A young child wearing a pointed wizards hat holding his mother's hand very boldly pointed and giggled: "Look mummy a funny muggle!"   
  
Locating the source of exclamation she smiled and gave him a wink before Fred and George took another turn.  
  
As it turned out they had arrived at their destination. A place that sold sweets but Judith wasn't quick enough to catch the name on the sign as they entered. When they did she completely forgot to ask about the name of the shop because of the rows and columns full of strange sweets in front of her.   
  
Fred and George were unfazed at the site seeing their own shop of pranks was very close by and they were often in here weekly to stock up there personal sugar supply. Walking up to the counter they gave a smile to the clerk who nodded and they stepped into the back of the shop and walked up the stairs to what looked to be a living room.   
  
Judith watched as an elderly man in a mass of robes with snowy white hair moved to stand from a chair. Dumbledore!   
"Ah miss Nichols a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." He said with a very amused manner and extended his hand in greeting. "I am Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as I'm sure have likely already guessed."   
  
A great sense of respect welled up in the young woman as she slowly extended her hand and firmly clasped his. She nodded. "Yes sir."   
  
He smiled and she notice a slight twinkle in his eye like she had always read about. "Good good. Now before we get started with the rather dull business of explaining the situation let us have a seat." A heavily robed arm gestured to the comfortable looking couch and chairs before them. After sitting she looked curiously at Fred and George who remained standing.   
  
"My apologies miss Nichols," Dumbledore said, "but what we have to discuss is rather a delicate matter and personal upon your part so I requested the Weasleys to excuse themselves for the moment."   
  
Dazedly she nodded and the twins gave some enthusiastic departing gestures and were gone. Leaning back into the couch she let the overly soft couch envelope her.   
  
Reaching into a hidden pocket in his robes the Headmaster pulled out a small sack and offered it to her. "Smartie?" The girl's face broke into a huge smile and she plucked a few of the muggle sweets from the bag.  
  
"Why Sir I didn't know you could get muggle sweets like that here."   
  
Taking a few into his own hand and popping them into his mouth he quickly chewed and swallowed. "Well they are hard to find and get but I do very much like them." He popped a few more in, "They are not nearly as surprising as Everyflavor Beans but they are much more reliable in their flavor."  
  
Judith swallowed and gave a laugh. "Yes, no fear of getting an ear wax flavored one from the makers of Smarties."  
  
The Headmaster chuckled and Judith realized this offering of candy this man seemed to often make in the books was a way of putting people at ease. She smiled. It was working.  
  
"Now to the reason why you were most unfortunately woken at 3 o' clock in the morning." The bag of sweets disappeared back in his robes and his demeanor turned more serious. "Miss Nichols I trust you are familiar with the Novelist J.K Rowling in your world correct?"  
  
She nodded.   
  
"Good well then have you ever heard of the theory of alternative universes?"  
  
She nodded again.  
  
"Good. But I must tell you that that is not a theory, it is the truth. Throughout the stretchy material of time and space and being their are many different dimensions. In some of these dimensions many things are very similar, in fact only a few minor differences may exist between them. Say in one the sky might be blue while in the other it might be purple. Now I'm going to tell you miss Nichols you are no longer in your dimension. Do you believe me?"   
  
Judith's eyes weren't really focused. She was in a different dimension?   
  
"Sure," she slightly murmured.  
  
One of Dumbledore's eyebrows rose amusedly but he continued on. "Our dimension and your dimension are one of the few that are very similar. In both elements of magic both exist but in your world Voldemort never came into existence. That means many things are different in the magical community there than here but you would not even know that.   
  
"Some how amazing the muggle writer Mrs. Rowling was able to pen a novel in your world explaining the exploits of a very special magical boy in my world by the name of Harry to exact precision. You were brought here by the Weasley twins, who are mentioned in the novels, and choco transports, a sort of one time usage port key not only to a different place but to a different dimension."  
  
Words were jumbling in her mind. . . Judith never was that good at listening to lectures and getting the full meaning she was a kinesthetic learner, one of those that had to have examples and hands on work. But how did one go about explaining _this_ in a hands on method?!   
  
"So why am I here? If this world is so similar to my own should there not be one of me already here?"  
  
A tired look crossed over Albus Dumbledore's face and he released a sigh to match. "Oh if it were that simple.   
  
"Judith my dear you are here because there is **not** one of you in this world. Unfortunately the circumstances that brought about your lineage in your world did not occur in our world."   
  
Stunned she moved to speak but was kept silent by a raised hand from her senior.  
  
"I promise to explain everything child. But before I do so you must understand a bit about the rising power of Voldemort. My research about the differences in the two dimensions has told me in your universe the 5th book was released in the past month?"   
  
Judith nodded, "but I hadn't had the time to read it, my library was still on a waiting list to purchase it. I only just finished reading the fourth book."   
  
"Yes well then even if you had read it you would still have much to find out. You see as it stands in this world young Mr. Potter will be entering his 7th year in the next week. Since the fourth year when Voldemort made his appearance during the Triwizard Tournament the Dark Lord has become very powerful and the attacks he and his followers have been making have become large scale. Last year after a particularly devastating attack Harry was nearly killed. For a month he lay in bed and for a week during that time he was nearly on his death bed.  
  
"Many members of the magical community have woken up to the reality that we cannot expect Harry to be the sole protector for the wizarding world. I have been one of them. Voldemort on his own may have been a match for him but he has since plundered many magical resources and instruments and forced many powerful beings under his power.   
  
"As it stands the side of the light may not win this war. We are close but still in need of help. One which would be priceless is an alliance with the elven people. But a problem arises they have no leader and when we speak of the elven we must take into account not only the poor house elves but also their ancient ancestors who remain in the shadows and hidden. Without a common and well known leader whom can assemble or assign help from the masses we cannot plead our case."  
  
Judith edged closer on the sofa as the sense of purpose in his words increased.  
  
"But once sometime ago, during the beginning of the century the elven people did have a leader, a royal family in fact. And this family was from the old ancestry of the elves. The very oldest and they were in fact a very open family who was very entwined in the muggle world. You see they were not only the royal family of the elves they also stood as the royal and ruling family of the Russian empire."  
  
Judith gasped, the Romanovs!?  
  
"Yes as you likely have already deduced they were the Romanov family. But Russia did not know them to be elven. They hid their main elven feature: their pointed ears, by a simple charm which made them appear muggle."  
  
With her confusion mounting Judith was unable to stay quite. "But I thought elves were quite obvious elven. The literary description of Dobby was. . . Well very different from what your proposing."  
  
Dumbledore smiled at the inquisitive mind she was exhibiting and was glad she noticed. "Yes that would be peculiar if the royal family looked like a regular house elf. But the reason they look so much like muggles is because of their old blood. You see all elves looked like that at one time but as some were forced into slavery under magical houses and reproduced with others that were enslaved their appearance chanced from that of their free relatives to what we see now commonly in house elves."  
  
Judith made a face. Eww the effects of inbreeding at it's worst.  
  
"Let me return to the Romanov family again. Now you have heard about the horrible circumstances surrounding their death?"  
  
"Yes. . . After the Reds took over, the new communist government had the family moved to Siberia to keep watch over them. They were later shot and buried and it was only in the 1990's that the bodies were supposedly found. But they're questionable remains."  
  
"Very good. You know your muggle history miss Nichols." Dumbledore smiled. "Yes the communist government had them sent to Siberia but it was not the new leader's decision to execute them. He left that to an eager assistant of his, Morag Kondrajke. You see Morag was an obsessed wizard set on getting rid of the elven people. Since he knew he couldn't attack all of them he set his target on the people's prominent symbol, their royal family. Sadly he succeeded in murdering the innocent beings.  
  
"But afterward there arose suspicion that one of the family had survived. The youngest daughter Anastasia.  
"A woman in North America even stated that she was the princess. But I can safely say that was an untrue statement. Anastasia didn't live." Dumbledore sadly added. "Morag was successful.   
  
"That is. . . he was successful in _this_ world." His eyes twinkled and Judith sat up right in surprise.   
  
"After many years of researching I found that in your world Anastasia did survive. She was wounded in the shooting and skirted away to England by a wizard that was disguised as one of the soldiers sent to do the horrible killing. There she cast an extremely complex spell to hide all aspects of her elven heritage even the invisible aura that surrounds all beings with magical powers. With the spell done she was muggle in form and could perform no magic. Quickly to hide her maiden name of Romanov she was married to a muggle with a strong English name.  
  
"She had 6 children of which only one gained her elven traits and they remained hidden because of the special properties of the spell cast; that way none of her children would be at risk either.   
  
"Because Anastasia was of old blood her traits would not spread easily and after her death as her family grew only two within the family at any given time would ever unknowingly have those hidden elven traits.  
  
"I have spent many years tracing this mystery and Anna's family. At first it was just a hobby but since Voldemort started terrorizing muggles and muggle-borns I have hurried my search. I've had to find Anastasia's ancestor so to restore the elven people a leader whom I could then hopefully make an ally.  
  
"Judith Nichols I believe you are that heir."  
  
  
TBC   
  



	3. Reality's Cold Awakenings

  
Judith sat in the too big couch looking more than a little surprised. A single eyebrow remained raised as her eyes stared into space. The headmaster of Hogwarts tried to hide his smile.  
  
'I'm Russian? I have Russian heritage? No, no, never mind that. I'm related to the rotting body of the Russian Tsar!?' She blinked a number of times and laughed.   
  
"Okay Sir this is absurd. Though I am amused by the Harry Potter world, this can't be real!"   
  
The amused look on the headmaster's face never wavered. "Oh but my dear child, it is." Standing up carefully he got up from his chair to stand in front of her. "Even if you do believe this is all just a dream would it be a dream you would like to stay in?" A flicker of hope passed through his eyes and he smiled convincingly.  
  
An incredulous look passed over her like he was silly to consider she wouldn't. "Of course I would, this place is fascinating!" To think she could spend her time in a place where   
  
"Good good. How about you do stay? Maybe after sometime you'll come to believe."   
  
Judith smiled. "I'd love to but I still think I'll wake up sometime from now and find myself in bed in Canada again."   
  
"Maybe you will miss Nichols but for the moment would you mind entertaining an old man of a small wish of his?"   
  
"Of course Sir."   
  
"Thank you my dear. But there is one last thing. Not only is it dangerous times for magic folk and students attending Hogwarts especially but should you decide later in time to assist the side of light as a correspondent to your people you may become a large target for attack from Voldemort. Are you still interested?"   
  
Judith didn't need to spend much time thinking over the prospects. "Yes," she answered assuredly after minute. If this was a dream then she couldn't get harmed. If it turned out that it wasn't, an idea her mind was buying into every moment, then she would end up finding herself playing a large part likely in helping many people. The thought of helping people didn't scare her in the slightest. She might be at risk but that'd just raise the sense of adventure and purpose.   
  
Albus Dumbledore stared at her for a moment trying to judge her seriousness and when she stared back with her steady and acknowledging storm cloud eyes he clapped his hands. "Excellent. This means much to me my dear. My most humble thanks are in order.   
  
"Now during the duration of your stay in this world you will be staying at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, enrolled in the 7th year and will be disguised as coming from a regular magic family. It will not be hard since the Nichols name has been strong in Britain and a few have been magical. Technically you are a transfer student from Canada so we will keep that as part of your story. If anybody asks you are from Madeleine Trublé's School for the Magical in Quebec."   
  
With her excitement levels rising Judith nodded in acceptance. "Yes my French isn't great but if I'm asked I'll say I went there after living in Western Canada." She could understand some and had been working on it, French was simply too interesting for her not too learn.   
  
"Very good. Tomorrow with Fred and George you will go through the Alley and collect all your supplies." A letter she hadn't notice him take out was being held and presented to her from the Headmaster's hand. She picked it up and first took in the fine calligraphy in which her name was written and then, what she suspected was the Hogwarts emblem, imprinted in the wax on the back.   
  
"It is your official acceptance letter. Inside you will find a list of all of your classes and the supplies you will need. The coin you'll use to purchase those supplies will be taken from the Romanov family vault in the wizard bank Gringotts tomorrow as well.   
  
"Now for the remainder of the day I hope you will rest. My apologies for having Fred and George drag you out of bed at such at early hour in the morning. At the Leaky Cauldron you will find there has been a room rented for you. Boys if you could assist in escorting Miss Nichols there please?" Dumbledore was looking over to the door were the twins now stood expectant still grinning.   
  
"Sure Headmaster."   
  
"Come on Judith." George, though she once again couldn't tell which wizard was which, took her hand raised her to the feet.   
  
"Now if m'lady would please flow, the Royal Weasley Twins of Pranks will take her ladyship to her quarters."   
  
Dumbledore looked amused when Judith looked back at him in parting. The twins once more had a hold on each of her arms and were rambling in their British accent which they were accentuating for show. Before she lost sight of him on their way down the stairs the headmaster of her new school gave her a friendly wink and she smiled.   
  
'How strange that I'll be spending my senior year going to a school that shouldn't even exist.' She thought, 'well in the least it didn't exist in my world.'  
  
While still fascinated by the brand new sights, smells, and sounds, Judith was subdued by her mind which was in overdrive over the implications of all the things Albus Dumbledore had told her. Before she even knew it they were at the end of the ally and entering the Leaky Cauldron inn and pub. Scattered over the length of the bar and the tables a variety of people sat drinking and eating, socializing, reading, and doing various things people normally do in large places of the like. Fred and George waved and said a few words to a few of the folks here and there as they made their way up the stairs to a row of doors. Finally releasing her arms one of the identical brothers, -George? Or was it Fred?- produced a key for her.   
  
"Your room number is 19."   
  
"Goodnight m'lady. Sleep tight and don't let the ghoul fright!"   
  
"Yes goodnight m'lady."   
  
With more another flourishing departure the twins left and Judith was left in the hall starting at the key. 'Interesting.' As she slowly meandered down the hall she took in the beautiful dark wood that looked to have been the main building material of the inn and the fancy gold numbers that skimmed on the doors. Each step she took suddenly was reminding her of how tired she should have been. By the time she time she stepped up to the old door of her room she was ready to change back into her pajamas and climb under th- Wait her pajamas were in her trunk.   
  
Her trunk wasn't with her.   
  
SHE LOST HER TRUNK!   
  
"Sugar," she lowly hissed as an alternative to swearing. Her head landed disappointedly on the hard wood of the door and the *THUNK* that resulted echoed down the hall. Quickly she raised her head and guilty looked to the closed doors. 'Great you're not only a klutz you're also a disturber of the peace. Smooth Judith very smooth and this is only your first few hours here.'  
  
Sighing she fingered the key into the lock and entered her room. After closing the door without bothering to lock it, because she couldn't see a regular locking mechanism on this side of the door, she turned around to find at the foot of a large bed sitting there innocently and back to its old size, her trunk.   
  
  
  
****   
  
  
  
  
  
The next morning she was awoken once again by the voices of Fred and George Weasely.  
  
"I'll wake her."   
  
"No I will."   
  
"Come on Fred it was you're fault she woke up yesterday. It's my turn."   
  
"No I believe you were the one that stubbed your toe and started cursing."   
  
Judith groaned.   
  
"Now look you've gone and done it again." Laying in between a mass of very soft and warm sheets Judith listened to the footsteps of one of the twins. Stopping next her right she opened her eyes to find a freckled face a few inches from hers.   
  
"BOO." The face said with great exaggeration. She had no idea if it was George or if it was Fred. Closing her eyes again at the brightness of the room she gave a blind shove at him. For fact that she was once again, just like every other day in her life, was ripped out of the beloved land of sleep and counting sheep she could careless about distinguishing between the two. The young men laughed.   
  
"Ah sunshine doesn't want to get up?" George laughed and looked over to his twin with an evil idea in mind. Unfortunately because Judith was drifting away again she missed it.   
  
Just as Judith got comfortable once more the secretive whispered words of a spell fell on her ears. When she opened her eyes to inspect what they did she met the site of a bucket hovering over her head. As soon as see noticed it, the thing tipped.   
  
"AGH!"   
  
The twins broke out in laughter as Judith Nichols struggled to get out of the sheets that were now soaked in cold water. When she did free herself she was looking like a drowned rat; her very long hair was in chilled strings sticking to her face and shirt.   
Tears of laughter were running down both of the culprits faces. Her own was twisted up gruesomely adding to the wet rat effect.  
  
"FRED AND GEORGE WEASELY I SWEAR! YOU BETTER HOPE I WAKE UP FROM THIS DREAM OR I'LL KILL THE BOTH OF YOU!" She didn't care if she startled the whole Alley let alone the Leaky Cauldron's other patrons, she wanted her revenge.   
  
"Sorry Judith." Fred said with little sincerity. In response Judith stormed up to him and grabbed his collar.   
  
"You BETTER be!"   
  
Pulling out his wand George grinned. "Don't worry I'll fix it," and with a flick of his wand and a murmur of words Judith found herself dry again. Reaching up to inspect the state of her hair Fred grinned as she released him and another wonderstruck look passed over her features. Her hair was perfectly dry but the tell tale feel of silk it had told her that her hair had recently been washed, no matter how brief.  
  
"Now get some of those funny clothes of yours on and well meet you down stairs." After saying so both exited and Judith, still in shock, got dressed like told.   
  
Downstairs she found them eating breakfast and when she sat down one of the inn's help came by and took an order from her for juice and what she hoped turned out to be hash browns. Thankfully it was and after they had finished Fred put down some peculiar coins she didn't have the time to inspect because they were dragging her off again by her arms.   
  
'Wizarding money,' she mentally reminded herself.  
  
The first stop was in front of a giant building she was surprised she hadn't noticed yesterday. On the front was the name Gringotts and people and creatures, she suspected were goblins, were entering and exiting quickly. They didn't much resemble that of what Hollywood depicted them as in the first movie.   
  
Judith chuckled.  
  
The only reason she bothered to go was because it looked cute. She hadn't even read the book… But a month before the movie was due to show in her little town she had rented the book after waiting for it to be returned after a _LONG_ while and read the sucker. After that she was basically hooked. She was kind of surprised because she had actually been hitting the books. When she first heard about the Harry Potter phenomenon she dismissed it as a silly fad that would eventually run it's course. She had expected the next book to be a dud that would be rejected by the public. Lordy was she ever wrong.  
  
She snapped back to 'reality' as George released her arm and held the door for her and his twin to enter the large bank. A smile at the ironic workings of fate graced her lips as she passed through the large door.   
  
They began walking briskly up to the front desk. Two goblins immediately seemed to spot them (not that it's that hard considering there fire-engine hair that screamed for attention) and appeared a moment later directly in their path.   
  
"Weasley sirs-" the scratchy voice of one rose but the twins seemed set on ignoring the two and side stepped them.   
  
"Weasleys! We must request you leave immediately." Again they appeared in front of the trio but once more were side stepped by the fluid movements of the twins. Judith was at a loss at why they were ignoring them. She was surprised the twins even could. The way they were scowling at the three of them with their strange goblin features was hard to ignore. Other customers were even glancing over curiously.   
  
"We will not put up with any more of your pranks Weasleys." One irritatedly stated as he was bypassed once again. Judith's head was on a swivel going back and forth looking between what she took to be a disgruntle expression on the goblins faces and the easy looks of the twins.  
  
"No need to fear sir," Fred's voice filtered back as they quickly approached one of the high desks at the front. "No pranks today I'm afraid. We're here on business having to do with Albus Dumbledore."   
  
"But," George added, "if you're that disappointed I guess we can have a look at our schedules and book you some terrorizing time if we're not busy." The two goblins who had given up trying to stop the two were standing in the middle of the large area of the bank entrance and when Judith did a double take she was positive the expression on their faces were glares and that they were directed at her and the backs of the twins.  
  
Finally they did reach one of the desks that was situated past the entrance. The goblin at the top of it looked down on them expectantly over his glasses, a not very pleasant look Judith decided. George stepped forward and produced from his robes an envelope which he passed to the goblin. With skittish eye movements the creature read it over and then handed it back with a nod. His stare then settled on Judith and that scratchy voice spoke to her. "Miss Nichols if you could step forward."   
  
She swallowed nervously and the guys nodded encouragingly. Judith stepped forward as asked. The goblin then lifted his wand and murmured a spell over her in some goblin language. Nothing happened. However this seemed to be a good thing though since he nodded and then disappeared from the desk. He then reappeared in front of her, now only half her height without the desk and she didn't feel too intimidated anymore. He made a wave with his hand for them to follow and then he was off scurrying towards a giant vault. When they entered they were greeted by the site of a big hole of blackness which a track like that of a train ran into. At the beginning of the tracks in front of them waited a coal car. The goblin hopped up into it and lit the lamp at the front of it.   
  
"Only two can come one of you have to wait."   
  
Fred stepped aside and then George assisted Judith into the car. As soon as she had grabbed the back of the thing and one side the car was off whirling down corners at a horrible speed. Judith always hated rides like these at amusement parks. Her stomach wasn't made for it.   
  
Thankfully the trip was done in a minute and the car was now outside a vault with the number 12 on the front. The goblin passed her a key and she and George got out. After another reassuring smile from him she placed the key in the lock. The door opened with a hard shove on her part and the huge door opened with a shriek. Judith stepped away from it in surprise. 'I hope it was only because the hinges aren't greased that the thing sounded that way.'   
  
When they looked inside both of them gasped. From just the glint of the lantern they could see the mass of coins inside and most of them looked like they were gold. Judith's jaw dropped. 'This is the Romanov vault? Well I suppose there's no doubt it can't be.'  
  
She stepped in and picked up a few pieces and inspected their plain features. They didn't have the picture of the queen on it like Canadian coins did and on the other side there weren't the national symbols for her home land.   
  
George let out an impressed whistle. "Judith your the wealthiest person I've met to date."   
  
"Yeah and I didn't even know it. How much do you think will be enough to go into Diagon Alley with?"   
  
"Well if you're planning on only buying the best, like gold inscribed textbooks you might take a whole bucket of the gold coins." George said cheekily.   
  
"Gold inscribed textbooks? Who buys those?"   
  
A snort from her companion in the huge expanse of the vault echoed. "Draco Malfoy and his following of Slitherin purebloods likely."   
  
"Oh." Judith whispered. "Well what if I just want to get some well made regular stuff that will last me a year and help me fit in with the non-Slitherins?   
  
The smile returned to George's face and he looked over the coins till he spotted some silver and copper pieces. "A half filled purse of those will do nicely." Helpfully he pointed out were he say them and Judith grabbed a handful with a little bit of each coin.   
  
"Here." A small leather pouch fell at her feet and she eventually figured out she was supposed to put her money in it. "We knew you wouldn't have one."   
  
She smiled thankfully up at him and after she had the thing filled and tied she suddenly got an idea.   
  
George started to walk out of the vault when he was hit the back of the head by a coin. When he turned around she fired two more at him but he caught them. After that she was hurrying past him and getting into the car again.   
  
"Keep them." She said. "Count them as payment for the pouch and your assistance."   
  
The solitary twin looked down at his palm to see two heavy gold pieces glint back at him and he scrambled after her into the car.   
  
"Wizards don't just pay gold pieces for anything!" George shouted over the swoosh of air as the car started the journey back towards the bank.   
  
"Maybe this wizard will." Judith said back and refused the coins he was trying to shove back. "What else am I going to do with that vault full."   
  
  
  
TBC   
  



	4. Reality makes the enemy more human? Sinc...

"So what all do you have to get?" Fred said after the three of them stepped out of the goblin bank.   
  
Digging into the pouch in her plain dress she drew out her acceptance letter. Feeling slightly guilty for breaking the interesting and authentic seal on the back she unfolded the parchment. Before she had barely skimmed over the basic preamble George quickly swiped the letter from her. "Welcome to Hogwarts. . . blah blah blah Ah supplies!   
" Couple of books, blah blah blah… a cauldron blah blah blah. . . hum nothing new."   
  
"Except for the text books for the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher." Fred chuckled and even Judith laughed. Hopefully this one would really be who he said he was, and knew what he was doing unlike the others she'd read about. Except for the werewolf, Remus Lupin, who seemed to be made for the job.   
  
George passed the letter back. "Okay well the first shop I'd say that'd be best to stop in on is Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. We have to have you looking like you're an actual transfer student as soon as possible which means you've known you were a wizard for at least the past 6 years. Also meaning you should be walking around here in robes not muggle clothes."   
  
"Right." Fred nodded and then they were stepping off the large stone stairs of Gringotts and into the sea of people. While they made their way Judith began to notice how many of these magic folk were actually youth and likely here in the Alley to buy supplies before the new school year. While quickly passing she'd sneak looks at the different crests that were sown on some of the older youths looking for a house from Hogwarts. Though intrigued by the thought of what one of the crests might look like she hoped she wouldn't run into one looking like a muggle at the moment.   
  
When the trio finally walked into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions they were assaulted by the sight of various bolts of cloth covering the walls in all different colors and textures. The closest thing she could find to compare to a muggle clothing store was that there were some pre-made garments on display but even those were few and foreign to Judith. The twins as usual were completely unfazed.   
  
In a swirl of fabric they were greeted by a woman in light brown robe who settled her chocolate eyes on her immediately. "Hello my dear. New to Diagon Alley?" Judith nodded. "Ah I can always tell by the dazzled look and the lack of robes. I'm Madame Malkin the owner of this shop. Now are you just looking for robes?"   
  
"Actually she's looking for a Hogwarts uniform." George interjected as he took a seat in one of the proffered chairs for relatives of children getting fitted.   
  
"Hogwarts! Oh dear my apologies but you seem too old to be attending school. This must be your 7th year then, yes, that would explain it."   
  
Judith could only get a slight nod in before the woman had taken her hand and had her dragged farther into the shop. This new area had a few more people. Some were youngsters who looked like they were likely getting fitted for their first robes as well by other magic seamstresses.   
  
Herded ontop of a stool, even though doing so seemed pointless because she was already tall, another woman appeared from around a robe rack and draped a big length of black cloth around her. Judith was terribly surprised and she was immediately at unease. However after watching and feeling the adjustments the women was making to the cloth she realized they were magically _sewing_ her a robe. In 5 minutes, over top her light summer muggle dress she now was wearing a very smart and elegant black wizard robe.   
  
The woman who had been working on it gave her a cheeky grin. "Well it looks lovely child and this is only the sketch garment. Now if you'll take it off we can get Mary in the back to get the magical measurements off of it and you'll have the robes you need."   
  
Madame Malkin was suddenly again in her face. "Yes! And what robes will you be wanting my dear? 3 regular work robs is the standard for Hogwarts school I know but will you be wanting anymore? Perhaps a fancy one or two for the Yule ball and any other occasion?" Judith blinked trying to get her mind to catch up with the speed of the lady in front of her. She must have been in the business of magical garments for a long while to be so speedy. In fact, Judith doubted she would have been able to remember getting a robe for the Yule ball. Even with the proposition of becoming an ally to the side of light, an idea that still seemed alien to her, she doubted she'd still be here come Christmas time. However the help was still staring at her expectantly waiting for an answer. Dumbly she nodded her consent to the additional robes.   
  
As she did, what was becoming a trademark Weasley laugh sounded from one of her sides. In the whirl wind of these speedy ladies she had briefly forgotten about the brothers. Looking over she found the two grinning at her from a set of chairs. Fred caught her eye and gave an over exaggerated yawn and pretended to fall asleep.   
  
"My dear?" Madame Malkin interrupted her humorous twin watching and drew her attention to the uniform she held. "If you'd please put this on in the change room we could then adjust this to your size."   
  
Judith nodded and took the bundle of clothing she was handed. Before going off in the direction of the indicated change rooms though she stepped up to the twins and hit Fred and George with a _Mademoiselle Magic_ magazine upside the head.   
  
"Since you too are so bored why not ditch the muggle?" She joked about herself.   
  
Fred added lightly. "Well we would but you know we told Dumbledore we'd escort you…"  
  
"Ah but shopping is very tedious for guys. Magical or not, I'm beginning to see it's the same. Don't you guys have something else you do besides baby-sit muggles Dumbledore decides to adopt to Hogwarts?"   
  
"Of course we do!" George replied humorously appalled. "We run our very own prank shop! Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."   
  
"Oh yes." Judith rolled here eyes at the mention of the business the boys had started in the fourth book.  
  
"OH yes…" Fred mocked in a high and percing voice, pretending to sound like a girl.   
  
"Well then since you boys are still in business why is it your here sitting around bored, attending to me like butlers, while you could be pleasing customers!"   
  
Both blushed a light pink. "We'll Dumbledore did ask and you consented plus it wouldn't do to have you lost."   
  
Judith gave a very unladylike snort. "I'm not going to get lost in a single alley. Even if it is full of shops and very long. Also if those are the only reasons why your sitting around paying compliments to the flies then why don't you head back to your shop?"   
  
"Would you mind?" One of the twins she was beginning to think she'd forever have trouble distinguishing, sincerely asked.   
  
"Not at all in fact I've been itching to do some exploring on my own. You two have seen all there is to see of each of these shops. I haven't even seen the _shops_! I'll just bore the daylights out of you by people watching and playing with trinkets. I can meet you guys back at the leaky cauldron tonight for dinner." She spoke with perfect calmness but inside she was actually nervous they wouldn't let her be. Time alone with her thoughts was what she needed most now to adjust.  
  
Fred gave a nod to George and they rose, gave a flourishing bow, and headed to the door. "Oh and Judith…" George called back. "Do keep out of trouble."   
  
She just shook her head and laughed. They sure were ones to talk about keeping out of trouble. She was relieved that they had agreed to her idea.   
However her smile disappeared after she walked into the change room and changed into the uniform to find it consisted of a knee length skirt, blouse, sweater vest and bobby socks! Oh god! Suddenly it had hit her that a boarding school like Hogwarts mean horrible mid 1950's prep clothes day to day, month to month. Okay so they weren't that bad, it would mean there would be a lack of who-could-dress-the-most-expensively, and maybe she didn't completey dislike the idea of boarding school clothes (though she's never admit it) but they _were_ all too big!   
  
While she worried behind the privacy curtain the shop keepers voice filter over the barrier. "Oh don't be shy child come on out. Don't worry if the clothes are too big we'll just fix them right up to your size!" Judith rolled her eyes at her reflection and stepped out after bunching up the cloth.   
  
"Oh my those are big." One of the help stated and then flicked her wand with some spoken words. Suddenly Judith found her hand no longer gripping cloth. Tentatively moving her hand away she found the skirt stayed in place, now snug against her hips and the shirt and vest also fitted. Glimpsing her imagine in a close by mirror she found she slightly looked better. Her belly no longer looked like it belonged to hippo and that she was going to give birth.   
  
When her uniform was done with she ended up choosing a bright aqua cloth for one of her fancy robes and heavy red and green velvet for the other which she could use, should she still be here come Christmas. After a little wait she was greeted with the finished product of five fine new robes and three other fitted uniforms. Three plain black robes for Hogwarts and two fancy ones all with her name stitched in the collar like the school letter requested. For the lot she paid two gold pieces which she was reminded were called Galleons.   
  
When she exited the shop with her packages nicely folded and wrapped in brown paper she set off down the alley in her aqua robe seeing that she didn't have to wear her uniform till school. However as she made her way through the crowds and into some shops she was starting to believe perhaps she shouldn't have got such a bright robe. People were staring still but not like before. She'd catch one taking a glimpse and catch the persons eye and they might blush or turn away. Suddenly she realized she was probably looking like the idiot Lockhart in her vibrant robes. But none of the people looked to be completely shocked or disgusted though so she shrugged off the feeling.   
  
Now that she was dressed like a wizard -to a degree- she decided to get the most important thing she'd need as a wizard: her wand. And not surprisingly Ollivanders was just a shop up.  
When she stepped inside she was immediately greeted by the tiny old shop owner a moment after stepping into the gloomy shop with it's wand boxes up to the ceiling.   
  
"Greetings new comer-" He seemed slightly startled when he got a full look at her. A frown crinkled his eyebrows till they were touching and then if was disappeared by a still surprised look but one which was more calm and in wonder. "Yes new comer…" he spoke to himself and reached out and grasped her hand. Judith was slightly uneased but as soon as he had taken her hand she dropped it.   
  
"You are familiar to me and yet you are not. You have secrets. For the first time I do not know the customer that has entered."   
  
"My name is Judith Nichols."   
  
"So you say but you are not like the Nichols that I have met before. Bethie Nichols 9 inches unicorn hair. Gerald Nichols 12 inches mahogany and phoenix hair. They were the last two Nichols I have had here in my shop and that was some time ago. Even still you are not one of their children." Judith rose her eyebrow at that.   
  
" But your features they are familiar but I have not seen then in so long… Well never mind." From out of his pocket he drew a long tape measurer with silver markings. "Please extend your wand arm."   
  
Her other eyebrow shot up and she had to think for a moment which she wanted to be her wand arm. Finally she extended her right arm and then he was taking measurements. Mr. Ollivander gave her another peculiar look and then turned and scurried off around a row of wand boxes.   
  
"The strange one I think. Yes. I have not sold a white wood for sometime." Mr. Ollivander's voice echoed through the shop back to her. "How appropriate."   
  
'This guy is really weird.' She thought while still musing over his cryptic words. What was so strange about her features? Was he seeing a Romanov resemblance?   
  
Ollivander appeared again with what looked like a crumbling box. Out of it he pulled a long creamy white wand. She was a bit surprised. There were white wands? What wood was this white?   
He pushed it into her hand and she held it moronically.   
  
Mr. Ollivander animatedly encouraged her with his hands. "Well… Give it flick."   
  
Judith did as told and a peculiar sensation moved through her. Besides that nothing happened. This slightly disappointed her. She'd been hoping for an explosion or some sparks in the slightest.   
  
Mr. Ollivander seemed overjoyed though. "I knew it! A strange elegant wand for and a strange and elegant wand hand." He gave her a smile. "14 inches, one of my longest and a braid of two hairs: phoenix and unicorn and a single Dragon heartstring. Use it well miss _Nichols_."  
  
She nodded slowly and slightly suspiciously.   
  
"That will be 7 galleons."   
  
Reaching into her coin purse she drew out the amount and handed it to him. Without a glance to recount the coins he gave a nod, a deep bow from the waist, and then returned to his desk. Judith just shook her head and exited the shop. Immediately she was back shopping.   
  
In the cauldron shop she bought what the shop keeper said was a very durable student's cauldron even though the collapsible ones intrigued her. She quickly got her other supplies as well as some trinkets and magic products. In a wizard beauty shop she even found a hair styling potion that said on the side it was guaranteed to glue her hair in any position she wanted. She had sniggered at that and bought it in hopes of trying out a punk spiked look sometime. Hogwarts didn't have rules against how students styled their hair did they.   
  
Finally all she had felt to do, 'besides browse' she thought with a smile, was buy her text books. Making her way up to Flourish and Bolts she smiled at the masses of books she could see through the shop window. This shop was quite large and had both of it's stories open to the public instead of just the bottom one. It didn't matter much since Judith was in heaven. She was a book worm through and through. Her entire family was.   
Oh she was so happy to see different books from the ones of her personal and town's public library. Here many were leather bound and some looked to be ancient. She picked up one: The Book of Nothing and when she flipped through the pages found exactly that. Laughing she put it back down and continued to browse. Eventually she did find a section that was devoted to potions and began looking for 'Advanced Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger.   
  
Having no luck with the top shelves she was now sitting cross legged on the floor taking in the names of the books on the bottom shelves at an easy reaching distance. Eventually at the very bottom in the corner was what she was looking for. She pulled the book out and ran a finger over the leather cover.   
  
"Exactly what I was looking for." A lazy drawl came from above her and she looked up to see a young man with blonde hair smirk down at her. "Thanks for doing the hard work for me. Mind passing me one of the others?"   
  
Malfoy! Judith's mind hissed at her. This was the brat Draco Malfoy. He had to be. The robes he wore seemed too fancy with sliver buttons likely and lots of intricate sewing. His features were pale and the angles of his features were sharp almost pointy.   
  
Trying to hide any sign of recognition or surprise on her face she immediately grabbed for another text and handed it up to him. He took it and she was slightly stunned he _didn't_ wrench it from her.   
  
"Going to Hogwarts?" he asked in that drawl which was pure lazy self confidence.   
  
"Yes," she answered, a little more curt than she wanted and she began to rise. Surprising her again the spoiled little rich kid offered his arm to assist her. She didn't really want to take it but to stay on neutral turf as long as possible she did.   
  
He gave her a look as she pulled her hand out of his grip after standing. Those cool gray eyes assessed her dress with a raised brow. "I've never seen you before."   
  
"That's because I'm new. I'm transferring to Hogwarts from Madeleine Trublé's School for the Magical in Quebec, Canada."   
  
Draco actually looked surprised. "I didn't know Hogwarts took cross-Atlantic exchange students."   
  
"I didn't either."   
  
"Why did you decide to switch schools if your going into your final year. This _is_ your 7th year isn't it?"   
  
Judith nodded as her mind raced to bullshit her answer. "I wanted to do some traveling and go to school in a different place. Hogwarts seemed good because it's so old. Madeleine Trublé's is a terribly modern school. We didn't even have to wear uniforms." She hoped everything she was saying was okay and that Malfoy didn't know about this school.   
  
Looking down at her list she moved over from the potions section into herbs to find: 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' by Phyllida Spore. Malfoy followed.   
  
"Well there's four houses and there's a hat that sorts you into whichever you're best suited." He informed her with a superior tone. Judith groaned internally. 'I already know you pompous arse!' She wished could say but silently shouted it back to her neurological cells instead.   
  
"There's Hufflepuff, _Grynffindor_,"He spat, "Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The Slytherin house is the best there is."   
  
Judith had to resist rolling her eyes. "What about Grynffindor? I take it from your tone of voice you don't like that house too much."   
  
He gave an indignant snort. "Grynffindor's are supposed to be brave, daring and chivalrous. I think they're all idiots."   
  
"Why do you think they're idiots?"   
  
"They just are. They're always breaking rules thinking they're higher than the rest and they never get caught! The teachers, even the headmaster, favor them. And you _must_ know by now from the Daily Prophet or Wizarding Weekly Tabloids how even the savior of the wizarding world Harry Potter is in Grynffindor."   
  
Judith nodded and attempted to silently quell her anger but Draco's little speech had her temper simmering. "I still didn't hear any reason for them to be idiots. It sounded to me like your more jealous."   
  
Draco Malfoy's gray eyes immediately turned serious and icy. Judith knew she had probably just blow the chance of being on tepid ground with the boy but should didn't really care. Besides looks, Draco Malfoy didn't seem to have much to offer, except money, but Judith wasn't about to degrade herself to such a shallow level. Perhaps now he'd let her seek out her remaining books in peace.   
  
'Now who was the author of that herb book?' She thought.  
  
Judith looked down at her list again, shifted the weight of her packages and continued looking. Eventually she did find it bound in died green leather. When she moved on to the next couple of shelves she noticed Draco had watched her and picked up one of the herb books when she moved on.   
  
'Cheater,' she thought. 'I don't care if it's only a book, I spent nearly five minutes finding it he took five seconds to watch and pick up his own.'   
  
She realized she was being petty but erg! Could a guy get more irritating in a time span of one a few minutes?   
  
Moving on she noticed he was right on her tail. Turning and facing him she sent his raised eyebrow look at him. He answered by doing the same. Judith gave a short laugh and then turned back to the book shelf.   
  
Draco was still looking at her. Judith was starting to dislike this book store because it was hindering her search for the books and keeping her in Malfoy range longer than she would like.   
  
"What's Canada like?" The question stopped her as she just began reaching for Mrs. Spore's book.   
  
The absent of the drawl was what made her look up. He actually looked like he was interested in the answer. So she answered him as she picked up the book and then continued on to find Miranda Goshawk's 'Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7)'.   
  
"It's beautiful and I love it there. It's so big and we have a great diversity in the land. Our government does a good enough job even if the Prime Minister might not be too great. Our culture is mix of all different kinds and we have two official languages: English and French. Also I'll have you know that we aren't all nice and that not every other word we speak is 'eh'."   
  
"Can you speak French?"   
  
"A little; I had been working on it before I came here. Now it's going to have to go on the back burner. While here I guess I'll just have to brush up on my fake British accent. Wouldn' you say mate?" She said while trying to over accentuate her impersonation of the locals.   
  
Another surprise: Draco actually gave a small smile.   
  
"I can speak some," he said with a hint of the superior tone returning. "My family is known for it's culture and my father has me tutored every summer."   
  
"Fascinating," Judith nearly yawned but thankfully had the decency to contain it. "Do you do anything that isn't because your father's somehow involved or might uphold your family status?"   
  
The thunderous expression returned to his face but it was laced with confusion because Judith had actually managed to say exactly what she did in an even, calm and light tone. It was strange for Draco Malfoy to be insulted in such a way it was almost nice.   
  
"Of course," he finally said simply.   
  
"Well would you mind telling me about them?" She quirked a smile while giving up a silent prayer of thanks that he hadn't blown a gasket.   
  
"I like Quidditch." He said confidently.   
  
"But that doesn't really count, it's school related."   
  
Draco frowned.   
  
Judith was quickly getting into this. What exactly _did_ evil nemesis kids like Malfoy do to unwind? "Oh come on think. What do you enjoy? Perhaps it's something you began before being enrolled in Hogwarts."   
  
His pale features scrunched up, Judith waited for a moment but then returned to looking for the book on the current shelf. Two minutes later he simply said. "I draw sometimes."   
  
She shifted around and looked at him. From his casual stance, leaning on one leg and looking over the shelf as well she could see the self-assuredness was still there but toned down. She guessed he got the hint that she didn't much like the holier-than-thou attitude. Too bad it'd supposedly been ingrained since birth.   
  
Judith thought herself to be an average artist and she did enjoy drawing. Unfortunately they didn't offer art classes in senior high. "I like drawing. How good are you? The next Michaelangelo?" She said, her habit of teasing making an appearance, but suddenly realized Malfoy would likely take the fun out of it and say yes.   
  
"No, no where near his caliber." Malfoy answered evenly. Despite the fact the casual assuredness was still there his answer did surprise her. It was getting to the point she was beginning to think she should simply stop thinking Rowlings' books over and just take the things as they were.   
  
"But sometimes when I see something I really like and I concentrate I can produce a good reproduction."   
  
"Same here." So Malfoy is remotely human…Who would have thought it?   
  
Continuing around a corner she found the next book very quickly. Malfoy again picked up the book after her. Now all she had to find was her transfiguration text book and she could hurry off before the arrogance returned.   
  
Walking over to the stairs Malfoy shifted his pile of books and followed. Momentarily she wondered why he didn't have one of his poor house elves next to him to carry the growing pile but then shook that thought off. If he had she probably would have slugged him already in anger.   
  
As she stepped off, the last step the question "So what is your name?" filtered up to her. Promptly afterward she did a 180 turn on her heel and looked at him with blank eyes. She'd been told her stare was very unnerving in it's emotionlessness. There was no response expect his hand reached out for the railing; his gray eyes were calm and drilled into her's just as much.   
  
With a blink her eyes became more lively and she answered. "Judith Nichols." Interested in what his reaction may be she extended her long fingered hand for a handshake.   
  
Gray eyes flicked down to it and an indistinguishable look briefly flashed in his eyes. But then a warm hand- proof he wasn't a cold blooded snake like his house emblem- grasped hers. "Draco Malfoy," he said.   
  
She didn't lower her eyes from his, knowing he would likely think her to be weak if she did and answered, "I know." Pulling her hand away she went off in the search for her book leaving the mildly surprised boy behind her.   
TBC  
  
Ciao darlings ;) 


	5. Reality's soundtrack's giving me a heada...

  
  
At approximately 6:00pm Judith showed up at the Leaky Cauldron with a few of her bags. There were not many of them because while in the bookstore the kind shop clerk tallying up her bill had noticed her large baggage. Judith had been struggling to balance the wrapped packages and her cauldron when he informed her that she could have the shop send her books and other packages to her residence quite safely and quickly. Immediately Judith had agreed, told him her the room number at the Leaky Cauldron that she was staying at and then went off into the Alley.   
  
As she stepped further into the dinning area Fred and George very quickly made themselves visible by standing up and waving. She waved back just as enthusiastically, now very happy since the meeting with Malfoy had time to be pushed out of her mind and noticed that Dumbledore was also at the corner table the boys had chosen. Slowly he rose as well and she made her way to them. The bags were dropped at the corner of the table and she nodded her hello to the headmaster of her new school.   
  
Dumbledore smiled and nodded back. "My my you have been busy …and returned back in one piece as well."   
  
Judith suddenly remembered that she was supposed to have been with the twins during the day. "Oh sir! My apologies for brushing off the twins earlier in the day but I simply wanted to see the Alley by myself and…" A raised hand from him silenced her but his face held no anger.   
  
"My dear not to worry. All was explained by the twins already and I went fairly easy on them." The hint of sarcasm made her take a double take of his features to make sure that he was indeed joking. A slight grin confirmed it.   
  
"Now that you, the guest, have arrived it is about time that we order. Correct Fred? George?" The boys nodded and with a wave a barmaid came over and took their orders.   
  
Throughout the main dish the topic of discussion centered around her adventures in Diagon Alley. What was the most interesting shop? The wizard craft shop. How many things she make explode in Ollivander's with her flicking and swishing? Nothing, to the great surprise and disappointment of the boys and the mysterious look from Dumbledore. The questions continued as such until desert when Dumbledore insisted that they each have a slice of the chocolate cheesecake.   
  
When the delectable treat arrived they found he had not order himself a slice but he asked them eat so they did. While they slowly enjoyed the treat the headmaster's voice became more quite allowing only the occupants of the table to hear him.   
  
"Judith in two days you will be waiting at Platform 9 and ¾ with the rest of the student body and then board the train to Hogwarts." Judith nodded already knowing this.   
  
"It is always a very exciting time and noise is everywhere. Children pushing and shoving, shouting, the train attendants yelling and the whistle blowing. It can be very nerve racking."   
  
She supposed it could be but she'd been in situations like that before and never had a problem. She'd always found situations like that energizing and interesting. What was her new headmaster getting at?   
  
"Now for some one of the elven, whom have very powerful senses it can be extremely confusing."   
  
Oh… Judith stopped eating and paid more close attention. Dumbledore was making this out to seem pretty important. Fred and George however continued to scarf down their desert while keeping their eyes on him.   
  
"And at the moment your senses are at the level of the average individual, magical and muggle. But for you to go from that to the more attuned senses that have not been used, I am worried you will be more than overwhelmed." As Dumbledore spoke Fred was covertly moving the hand he wasn't using to shovel food, toward Judith's desert plate.   
  
"I suppose." She said and stabbed her fork before Fred's fingers. The hand was pulled back to his lap immediately.   
  
Dumbledore chuckled and using his own fork, stole a morsel of cake off her dish. Judith made no move to stop him and Fred gave a look of humorous outrage.   
An extremely satisfied look passed over Dumbledore's face after he swallowed. "Uhm… Very good. But back to this problem. There is not much I can do Judith but I can restore your intended senses as soon as possible so you'll have tonight and tomorrow to adjust as best as possible. At the castle you will have little time for silence, even during the night." His look seemed far off for a moment and the smile returned again. "The reason you will have them returned is because you must become accustomed to your elven traits. Though your identity must not be revealed so your ears will be charmed to look human, you need to have your disguise removed so that your people will be able to recognize you by your aura of energy. No others will be able to detect what you are like other elven. However people like Voldemort," he whispered much quieter, "could find you out if they knew where to look with complex spells."   
  
The information was absorbed and Judith looked up into the hopeful eyes of her headmaster.   
  
"Beside even as your people, particularly the house elves employed by the castle, begin recognizing what and who you are they likely will begin seeking you out weather or not you accept your title.   
  
"Now with most things considered… Are you still interested in going through with this?"   
  
"Yes." There was no need to think about it.   
  
A smile again and the headmaster raised himself. "Very well, now if you do not mind I think it would be best if I cast the spell in your room." Judith and the twins rose from their chairs, Fred give a last finger swipe over the crumbs on his plate and the headmaster carefully selected from his coin purse the cost of the meal.   
  
After making their way up to the room Judith opened the door and sat on the bed. The boys flanked her on either side and Dumbledore softly closed the door behind them. Then he stepped up in front of them and his wand had materialized in his hand though no move for it had been made.   
  
"I would like your undivided attention Miss Nichols as I perform the spell and even though it is early in the evening I advise that you try sleeping or in the least remain in your room to prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed." He gave an encouraging smile and then raised his wand steadily and spoke a very strange verse of what Judith could only guess could be Latin.   
  
There was a peculiar light that glowed only briefly but then it was gone and she could no longer care to examine where it originated from because suddenly her mind was a swirling cacophony of noise! Her hands immediately gripped the bed. The noise had hit her like a blow to her body. Drums. Beats. Screams. Notes. SLASH. TICK. CRASH. CREEEK. Here and there, next to her, inside of her, and miles around. Outwardly her face was a grimace, her entire body clenched and it worried the others; even in his experience Dumbledore had never performed the spell he had.   
The throbbing brought about by the noise was the worst but as the impact wore down a little her other senses came to her. The bedsheets crumpled beneath her fingers were slightly more scratchy than she remembered.   
With her eyes closed she could almost feel and see the energy of the objects around her. The most obvious 'auras' belonging to her companions. They seemed bright like colors but they weren't- they were energy. She'd experienced this before…. When she was younger. Only when she concentrated but never this bright or strongly-   
There was a breeze. Funny since she hadn't noticed it before… The window wasn't open. But this small wind swirled beneath her nose a heavenly sent. She couldn't tell what it was and before she knew it her body had latched onto the source.   
After opening her eyes to identify the source she realized that she was in close proximity to flesh and red hair. The source happened to be George's neck. She was surprised enough to quickly move away but with some disappointment of having the smell slightly muted.   
  
George's blush was as red as his hair. The other two laughed while Judith nearly matched his blush. Her embarrassment was quickly over come though by the interesting colors and tiny details on her hand which she was staring down at. Oh! She'd never scene such colors… It was as though, before she had been looking at the world through a film but now it had been removed or she'd been given glasses and could properly see things.   
  
"I see you are smitten with your new senses." Dumbledore said gently and the pounding of her head returned a little but it dimmed down again.   
  
Judith absently nodded and focused more on her hearing. The throbbing came again but when she kind of studied it she could discern different things from it. She realized one of the sounds she heard was a heart beat and then after recognizing one she could hear 3 others which likely belonged to the twins and Albus Dumbledore. A scraping from a chair broke through the beating and Judith realized that that noise had come from someone leaving a table downstairs. It immediately fade out again and the beating returned. She tried focusing on something else -the auras- and the beating died out again. A smile broke over her features as she realized she could control this sense a little. It would simply take time to practice and become accustomed.   
  
Opening her eyes she looked directly at the headmaster who was changed from before, like everything else, yet was still the same.   
  
"I think I'll get the hang of his." She said confidently and momentarily wondered over the new properties of her voice.   
  
"Good." Dumbledore said while slightly grinning. "But now that your are in your element we must take the necessary precautions to keep others from finding it out as well." Shuffling in his robes he moved over to the rooms provided dresser and picked up the mirror from Judith's vanity set. He then came in front of her and presented her with it.   
  
When she glanced at the image she was astonished. Her skin had always been a sickly pale color, she had even joked at times she looked dead. The few acne scars she had were still there but they were nearly invisible, their slightly more reddish appearance had been toned down and now matched the off cream white of her complexion. It hadn't changed just seemed to have… brightened.   
The strange but familiar yellow ring around her irises was brighter now and they contrasted with her gray eyes. Blazing auburn blonde hair had replaced her previous locks which were similar but seemed had been more dull. However the mass of hair still hung mid back and boringly limp.   
While turning her head to gain the view of a different angle she finally noticed her ears. They were nothing drastically different, more of an oddity, but strangely- elegant on her. One of her long fingered hands appeared in the mirror image as she touched then. The point was curved instead of being knife sharp and the ears simply seemed like they had easily been pulled into their position. She smiled in acceptance of her appearance.   
  
She laid the mirror down on her lap and look up expectantly at her headmaster. The twins remained respectively silent while starting at her, observing the small new changes about their new friend.   
  
"The spell to change your ears is thankfully a simple one and it's counter is just as easy." Lifting his worn and old wand, Dumbledore pointed it at her as he spoke: "_ leehus vis day._"  
  
A tingling sensation that caused a ripple of a shiver went through her and then there was nothing more. Judith lifted her mirror and the tips of her ears had melted away and left what looked like her old ears. With Dumbledore's whispered: "_seeus ear,_" the points returned.   
  
"Wow."   
  
Looking up from the mirror she found him handing her, her new wand. She carefully took it and marveled over the feeling of what she could only guess to be the tingle of her magical energy. It felt good. Natural.   
  
Dumbledore took a step backward and gestured to her. "Try the spell."   
  
Taking a deep breath she raised the wand, pointing it to her face, while she ran the pronunciation through her head. Opening her mouth she was interrupted before she made it past the second syllable.   
  
"Wait!" George pulled her wand away. "Sir she's an underage witch. The ministry will be here in no time if she casts a spell!"   
  
Judith's eyes filled with horror. Sugar! That was close. Where they were trying to make her appearance inconspicuous and she'd almost botched it. Dumbledore however was still smiling his impish smile and had raised his hand reassuringly.   
  
"Exchange students from other dimensions are a strange thing Mr. Weasley. They are unknown and… Undetectable by the ministry." He gave a wink and then a encouraging nod toward Judith.   
  
Hesitantly she raised her hand again and stared at her wand tip. 'God I hope I don't turn myself into something else.'   
  
Closing her eyes she whispered the words, "leehus vis day" and she could sense no change but the slight tingle that told her it had worked. She gave a sigh as she opened her eyes. Fred gave a thumbs-up as she lifted the mirror. …Her ears were back to being humanoid.   
  
"Well done." Dumbledore said. "Now, again, even though it is only…" He pulled on a chain Judith just now noticed, and from one of his pockets a beautiful old gold pocket watch appeared. "six in the afternoon, I think it would be best for us to leave you hear to rest and become accustomed to your senses." With a tilt of his head he walked to the door and exited with Fred and George waving and saying their good-byes as they followed.   
When the door closed the hum of white noise rose again.   
  
She twirled the white wand with her fingers. Without distraction she figured she study her new purchase. It wasn't bright white but more of a toned down cream. It felt quite comfortable in her grip. Raising the tip to her face she whispered the reverse of the last spell. After feeling the tingle at the tip of her ears she didn't see the need to lift the mirror she knew know how to tell if the spell worked. Once again she changed her ears back and then crawled over her bed to her trunk at the base of the bed.   
  
_I best write the smell down,_ she thought. Reaching for the thin binder she had packed the other night she tore off a corner of paper from one of the pages and then grabbed one of her muggle pens. _Knowing my strange memory I'll likely forget the spell but find myself singing it in the shower the next day. _ Slowly she sounded the spell out and then wrote out the way it sounded. After she was done she put her supplies away and then carefully tucked the spell into her coin purse.   
  
She then moved onto her brown paper wrapped packages from earlier.   
Working carefully she removed all the paper and glanced over the purchases. A loving hand ran over her knew Hogwarts uniform but she quickly moved over onto her textbooks.   
For half an hour she flipped and read the odd page of each book but then her mind settled on classes. Most specifically one mandatory course: Potions.   
A shudder ran through her body. Then she was struck with the realization that professor Snape had likely assigned his sixth year students an essay or some other homework before the year end.   
  
"No…" She groaned into the semi-silence. "I don't want homework!"   
  
Even though she could already look forward to pissing off the potions master she grabbed the thick potions textbook and started reading.   
  
When she laid it back down, four hours later by her wrist watch, she had surprisingly read nearly one sixth of the book. At least the author of the book wasn't as dry as what she expected her new professor to be.   
…hum… Professor… It would be interesting not calling them teachers or for that matter by their last names. Heck! Everything was different. No more English, Math, French, History, and thank the lord… Biology and Chemistry! Well chemistry wasn't so bad but Biology with boring old Mr. E?! yuck!   
Maybe Potions would be something like Chemistry? With the cauldrons like flasks and fires under them like Bunsen burners. Yeah… She could withstand hands on work; she was good at it. So long as she wasn't expected to write many essays, or at least the kind of essays her English teacher expected, she might be able to survive.   
  
Just when she was getting sleepy, the thought of her intriguing new classes had her excited. Would she have muggle studies? Or Hermione Granger's favorite course: Arithmancy. She'd remember reading something that hinted that the class involved math and math definitely wasn't something she enjoyed.   
Would she get Magical Creatures or that idiotic fortune telling class with Trellawny. Good lord she hoped not… Even if Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were suppose to be in that class she didn't think she'd be able to withstand it.   
  
Finally sometime much later Judith Nichols was lulled asleep by her thoughts about her new school.   
  
  
  
TBC  
  
Sweetness! I finally got around to uploading! Don't worry I've got a few other's already finished. I'm just staring chapter 8 as this point in time. I've been thinking about updating on a particular day but I'm not sure. It'd be nice if I could spit out a chapter a week but I've just got another job on top of the one I have and it wouldn't leave me much time. I'll really think about it though!   
  
Ciao darlings ;) 


	6. Reality favors Gryffindors

Before she knew it her precious free time had past. The day after Dumbledore had removed the binding spell, she had spent her time in the Leaky Cauldron for the most part. She had been engrossed in her Potions text and had talked with the twins who told her Dumbledore had gone back to Hogwarts.   
  
Now, dressed in her Hogwarts uniform -minus her robes- and the twins flanking her with her luggage she walked through Kings Cross Station of London and approached Platform 9 and 3/4. She had never been in a large train station, so even this muggle site was new to her and Fred or George had to give her a tug to remind her to keep up with them as they hustled. They had cut it close, she only had three minutes to board. 

It had been Fred's fault because he insisted in grabbing some sweets for Judith to take with her from Sherry's Sickeningly Sweet Sweet Shoppe. 

Judith appreciated the gesture but was positive that if she didn't share the bag, she'd have to take the whole year to polish it off.   
  
Finally with a minute before the train's departure the magical barrier came in view and she jogged through with her escorts.   
  
The event was somewhat anticlimactic; she had passed through the barrier as though passing through air and the platform was empty but for parents. Perhaps it was best. If she had to wait for an extended period of time in a packed area an overload of sensory messages likely would have destroyed the fragile mental barrier she had produced to block out the noise.   
  
She glimpsed Fred handing her luggage off to a uniformed man and felt George's hand on her back, guiding her to a car entrance. 

He passed off a ticket to a train attendant who stood next to the entrance and the man allowed her on.  
  
The train gave a shrill whistle of warning and her hands immediately covered her ears. Her mental barriers couldn't handle that! And then- it was over and she was being shepherded by a train attendant away from the view of her newest friends. She hesitated and waved.  
  
The attendant secured the door and Judith moved up the hallway, looking through the car windows and open doors into sitting areas for a welcomed seat.   
  
Full. Full. Full. Too mean looking. Full. Full.   
  
Finally almost giving up hope since she'd reached the front car of the train, she glanced into the last room and found it be nearly empty. The only occupant was a cat and a small pile of books.

'The student who was in here must have left to talk to friends.' Judith quietly entered. Taking one of the window seats so she could look at the scenery while she waited for her company to return -she hoped the person wouldn't mind her joining them.   
  
The cat gave a meow, almost in greeting, and Judith glanced over it. It looked like a mix of breads but she couldn't tell of what kinds. Judith generally liked cats. She could sympathize with their independent tendencies. When she made a move to pet it immediately hopped down from its padded seat. Judith didn't make any more moves to contact it. It was quite obvious that the animal wasn't interested and the girl respected that. She returned her attention to the window.   
  
The cat however continued to watch her and moved into a position that allowed it to better observe the girl. Judith glanced at it but turned back to the window. 

Suddenly the cat jumped into her lap and continued to stare up at her. Because of the encouraging move upon the animal's part Judith made a movement to pet it again but the cat pulled its lips away and its hackles slightly rose. Her hand immediately dropped. The animal stayed and stared.   
  
After a few moments it peeked its ears and leapt into a comfortable position on the seat and watched the door. Obviously expected, the door opened and a callous looking man enter. He stared at her with black eyes and sick looking hair that was the same colour, slightly long, and oily.   
  
The realization of whose compartment she was sitting in struck as quickly as professor Snape's glare. It wasn't until after he probably noticed she was a new student did it soften (if such a word could be used about Snape) into a more judgmental look.   
  
Though she doubted he'd take her hand she rose and extended it in a semblance of formality and show of respect. "Hello I'm Judith Nichols," the steadiness of her voice surprised her. After a moment the potion master's hand surprisingly but painfully gripped hers, they shook swiftly and then his hand was immediately back at his side. He gave no mention of his name or position. His beady eyes boar into hers, and she stared back emotionlessly while her insides squelched. 

"I take it you will be one of my professors?"   
  
The answer was meaningless but the question was a part of playing the role of the new and ignorant student. His black eyes assessed her momentarily and then he gave a nod. His pasty features then dropped to look at the cat.  
  
"Why do you insist on staying in that form?" He asked the creature in a tone that resonated darkness. "Maybe if you hadn't we would not have had this intrusion. Hum?" 

After processing the cold quality of his voice Judith realized that the cat she had been sharing the compartment with was actually her Transfiguration teacher. 

Ugh. she had almost pet her teacher. Yuck.  
  
When professor Snape took a seat in the corner farthest from her and grabbed one of the books next to him the cat transformed into the strict, up-right form of Minerva McGonagall.   
  
While appearing to engross himself in his book professor Snape's voice rose: "These are designated teachers compartments." Well that was a clear order to _Get Out._  
  
Immediately Judith's back was up. But she kept the insults her mind had immediately, supplied barely hanging on her tongue. She couldn't allow time for her temper while in the company of the one teacher that could most easily become her biggest pain in the neck. Hm... he was rumored to be a vampire...

Thankfully she bit back the giggle the thought caused and made her tone docile. "I'm sorry professor but I didn't know. I'm new to Hogwarts and when I got on the train all of the other compartments I looked in where full."   
  
McGonagall's features though strict and aged with deep wrinkles, softened a little in compassion. "You may stay child."   
  
Judith grinned, never missing a step in her charade of the ignorant exchange student. "Thank you professor...?"   
  
"McGonagall. I teach Transfiguration and this man is professor Snape-- Hogwarts' Potion Master."   
  
Judith nodded her thanks for the explanation and then returned her eyes to the rolling green hills. McGonagall soon left, most likely off to patrol the train for a little while. After she had been gone a little while Snape gave a disgruntle noise of sorts and then also exited. A sigh of relief soon after filled the compartment.   
  
Feeling more at ease and not so worrisome about him judging her she pulled out her Potions textbook to do some reading and pulled a random sweet from her bag.   
  
She was on page 354, just five pages into chapter 6: "Daring and Dastardly Drinks to Hurt and Heal," when the compartment door open again. All she needed was a peripheral glance to tell that the detestable professor Snape had returned.   
  
"Trying to fool me into believing that you're interested in Potions?" Was the biting comment made.   
  
Judith immediately shook her head. "No Sir. I'd heard that your teaching methods were strict so when I found out what text I'd require I visited Diagon Alley and-"  
  
"Please cease babbling." Was the bored yet sharp reply.   
  
_Grrr_! She hated him already!

The young woman's eyes defiantly snapped up, catching his. "I'll have you know that I've been reading this text book since I purchased it two days ago. I wanted to be somewhat prepared for class since I couldn't know what homework you have already assigned your returning students."   
  
No reply was given to the words she said a little more vehemently than she should have. The remainder of the day's trip was spent in silence. Judith did not even wonder why no students passed by the compartment. Around lunchtime she took a drink and a sandwich from the woman with a food trolley who had timidly knocked on the compartment door.   
  
The trip was longer than she had expected and sometime during the trip she had nodded off to sleep. Thankfully professor McGonagall woke her when they were close to Hogwarts. Outside the window it had gotten dark. She rose, leaving her book on her seat and exited the compartment with her carry on bag to change into her black Hogwarts' robes. Sure, she could have simply pulled them out of the bag in the compartment but she needed to be out of close range of Snape for a moment. 

Moving down the hall, she stopped in an area that didn't have any compartment windows and pulled the carefully folded mass of black cloth out from her bag. She slipped into it quickly and glanced down, checking her appearance. 

When she looked up she found Draco Malfoy, changed into his uniform, in front of her, leaning against a compartment door. The silver and green Slytherin snake crest was woven into the right lapel of his robe. His sneer was missing but one of his eyebrows was cocked at an amused angle.   
  
Before he could say anything Judith turned her back to him and walked back to the compartment. 

**** 

  
After the train gave it's final jolting stop Judith moved to rush out of the compartment. However she was stopped when McGonagall raised her voice.   
  
"All _Hogwarts_ first year students are to go with the Care of Magical Creatures professor: Hagrid, Miss Nichols. He will be outside calling to those students and certainly isn't too hard to miss."   
  
Giving a quick nod she continued out of the compartment and off of the train. Now things were getting really exciting. A swarm of black robed students met Judith's sight and she stepped into it happily. She could do without the rising loudness but what an exciting way to begin her senior year!   
  
Moving toward a group of shorter students Judith was watched momentarily by some of the older students. They could tell she was new. So when she happened to catch one staring she'd smiled and then moved her eyes elsewhere. 

-was that a glimpse of a lantern? 

Her posture became more pronounced as she straightened to her full six feet.   
  
Yes it was a lantern and it illuminated a section of fur coat on the giant man that held it. With his other features in the dark she was almost fearful. But the emotion was quickly pushed aside. Instead she grinned as she remembered reading that this member of the Hogwarts' faculty could be intimidating, but he could also be a blundering softy.   
  
"All first years come with me!" Hagrid bellowed ensuring all the little ones would hear. However it only sent some of the youngest ones trembling. Though the sound left her eardrums ringing Judith didn't cower; she gave encouraging looks down to her young companions. Motioning with his arm Hagrid started off toward the edge of the platform the train had stopped.   
  
Taking the first step to follow she noticed the boats that awaited them. Behind her the first years began to follow her lead.   
  
The ride was interesting. After they landed and trekked across the grounds, professor McGonagall was found waiting for them when Hagrid pushed open the doors.   
  
The children that had been talking animatedly during the walk now quickly quieted. 

  
"Come along children." McGonagall said in clipped tones and then swiftly turned and started walking. She led them to the Great Hall doors and then stopped to explain the proceedings. To Judith it was interesting to listen to even if she already knew what was about to happen. After McGonagall had finished she pushed open the doors and the new students filled behind her.   
  
Judith waited till she was the last before entering. When she did it seemed as though the entire school was staring at her. She wasn't too far off in her guess either. As she walked between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor house tables there were few students who weren't staring, or pointing and whispering about her.   
  
To commence the event, the Sorting Hat held began speaking its verse. Even though Judith couldn't imagine how it'd be possible for a hat to do so Judith headed every word it said. It spoke not of cheer but of banding together and hard times. 

After it finally slumped lifeless, McGonagall announced the first name "Bethany Hodingwin," as though it had not just spouted a heavy forewarning. Completely contrasting the serious hat, a cheerful and smiling young girl took a seat at the stool.   
  
"Hufflepuff!" A loud voice from the hat on top the child's head boomed. The resulting jubilation from Hufflepuff house sent Judith's hands immediately over her ears, where for the rest of the sorting they didn't move much.   
  
While the sorting commenced she glanced at the bewitched ceiling which was currently allowing some moonlight in that happened to peak through the overcast clouds. When she dared to glance at a student at one of the four tables her look was met dead on.   
  
"Judith Nichols, Seventh Year."   
  
A swarm of mutated butterflies did belly flops in her stomach as she approached the stool as confidently as possible. There was no where else to go. Besides the seated teachers, McGonagall and herself were the remaining two at the front of the hall. The old leather hat was unmoving at the moment and appeared simply like a very old and cliché witch's hat.  
  
When she sat down the hat was immediately dropped onto her head.   
  
"Hello there." A soothing voice whispered around her.   
  
"Hi." Judith whispered back softly.   
  
The voice changed to sounding surprised. "My a student that actually talks back. Good good. Most of the younger ones are scared witless. But you... You are a peculiarity.   
  
" Haven't sorted a Romanov in years... A hundred in fact."   
  
"SHHH!" Judith whispered loudly. The students seated before her seemed kind of puzzled but all eyes remained glued on her.   
  
"Oh this is a secret then! Do not worry, they can't hear me at the moment. I'm actually being quite quiet."   
  
"Good." Judith hissed.   
  
"Now where to place you? I recall a Boris Romanov went into Hufflepuff." The hat reminisced and Judith began to grow anxious; her schoolmates and McGonagall seemed antsy as well. Was it supposed to take this long?   
  
"Loyal he was and I can see that in you too but you're far too cunning- good for a good Slytherin. But you have that bold headedness needed in a Gryffindor, and the bookish quality of a studious Ravenclaw. Why you have it in you to be in any house you want. Let us see then. Enny meany minny mo. Best to make you-  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"   
  
A huge sigh went through Judith and the Gryffindor table exploded in cheers and clapping as soon as the first syllable of their house name was said. While her new housemates rose up in their jubilation the other houses settled back in their seats in disappointment. Even some of the Slytherins could be heard muttering: "Stupid Gryffindors...Bloody hat".  
  
Everybody wanted to figure out the mystery of the moment that was Judith Nichols.   
  
Judith, for the most part, ignored the mass of eyes that followed her to Gryffindor. She paid more attention to being polite to her new house, accepting hardy handshakes and smiles abound.   
  
"Welcome to Gryffindor Judith!" A couple chorused.   
  
"You're going to love it here."   
  
"I'm sure I will," she answered. "Thank you."   
  
"Hogwarts has some of the best professors!"   
  
"Not if you count Snape." Another snickered lowly.   
  
Finally a long-haired brunette said: "Over here Judith. Seventh years eat at this end of the table."   
  
Judith gave her a thankful glance and nicely brushed off the younger students around her. When she finally settled into a spot the girl had vacated next to her Dumbledore rose from his chair at the front and the entire table immediately quieted.   
  
She decided to wait till after the speech to look around and focused completely on what her new headmaster had to say.   
  
"Welcome old and new!" His eyes briefly met Judith's. "To start off once again I would like to remind all returning students and inform new ones that the Dark Forest near the castle I_is/i_ Forbidden. First years, you have Prefects assigned to your houses to help you around the castle and I am most happy to announce that this years Head Girl and Boy are Miss Hermione Granger." With a gesture of his hand the girl beside Judith rose, slightly surprising her. So that was Hermione? She didn't even have the chance to guess. 

The Gryffindor house was cheering once more with some of the table's young occupants (along with the odd, less mature seventh years) making mocking faces at the table behind Judith. She knew it had to be Slytherin.   
  
"And Draco Malfoy." Dumbledore continued and Judith nearly dropped out of her seat. How could a horribly mean person like him be named Head Boy? 

It seemed that most of her new house agreed with her as some of the students around her broke into groups that whispered conspiratorially about Malfoy ("there's a conspiracy!") and again sent glares past her back where Slytherin was now roaring.   
  
She chanced a glance over at the Slytherins and Draco Malfoy was standing pompously with a firm smirk in place.   
  
Dumbledore likely knew the trouble such an announcement would stir and continued on to say "I trust you all to respect _both_ as they do have the authority to remove house points and give detentions. Please if you are in need of assistance do not hesitate to seek either of them or your house prefects out." Judith almost snorted. She'd been a Gryffindor all of twenty seconds but she knew Hell would likely freeze over the day a Gryffindor searched out Draco Malfoy for assistance.   
  
"Now onto more serious matters: Holiwash, Pigerstine, lolipop and yorkem! Thank you!" After his last odd words Dumbledore returned to his seat. Judith made a funny face but in spite of the strangeness, laughed. She had expected something along those lines from the Sorting Hat.

Glancing over the empty table, a moment and a clap later it was laden with food. _Cool!_ She pilled the food onto her plate and allowed her peripheral vision focus on Hermione at odd moments.   
  
Her hair wasn't bushy like the books had said. It was more: very thick. Okay maybe Bushy was a good word for it. At the current moment it was pulled back with some of her hair in a ponytail at the top. She had no other distinctive characteristics that Judith could make out as she discreetly looked but a thick book did lie in her lap.   
  
Somewhere near her someone asked: "Hey Harry how was your summer?" Judith's attention was immediately captured.   
  
"Same as usual Dean." Was the reply Judith caught. "'cept I didn't have to slave away for my aunt and I swear my cousin has doubled in size." Judith looked up from her plate and found the famous black-haired and spectacle-wearing boy in front of her. Beside him was Ronald Weasley. The red hair she had become accustomed to thanks to the twins made him unmistakable. On the other side of Ron was the boy questioning Harry. All three of them were scarfing down food like it was their last meal.   
  
"So how long do you think it'll take Trelawny to predict your death this year?" Ron asked

Next to her Hermione huffed. "You know you two could have chosen _not_ to take that after fifth year-"

  
"Yeah yeah 'Mione." Ron mumbled with a mouthful of food. "Its 'orribly stoopid an the wuman's a crock but it's the eeeeziest marks!" To her right Hermione shot him a disgusted look.   
  
Carefully she put down her fork. "Really Ron you're not a five year old are you?" The red head looked up at her and silently asked 'what?', while chewed beef nearly fell from his mouth.   
  
Judith couldn't help from laughing but looked back to her plate. They all noticed though and Ron looked at her.   
  
He swallowed before asking outright: "So Judith, why are you coming to Hogwarts for you senior year? Isn't that a bit… stupid?"   
  
"Ron!" Hermione admonished in a horrified voice.   
  
Judith smiled while her mind began ad-libbing. "Well I wanted to travel. The place I had been attending, Madeleine Truble's School for the Magical, was horribly boring. I had attended it for my previous 6 years and well…" She made a face thinking of her own non-magical High School. "I liked the teachers and I got along well enough but it was just too commonplace. I never had traveled before.   
  
"And Hogwarts is extremely interesting. I've read so much about it," quite literary. "and I've only been here for half an hour but I'm already enamored with the place." In front of her Ron quietly groaned something about another person who like using big words but Judith just continued on and glanced sky ward.   
  
"The ceiling is so pretty." She whispered.   
  
"Yes it's bewitched you know. It's written in 'Hogwarts A History'." Hermione said.   
  
Judith dropped her head and smiled again. "Yes, so I've heard."   
  
"Oh have you read 'Hogwarts' as well?" The other said excitedly.   
  
Ron groaned again. "Not that book again! 'Mione we've been here for how long and you still find a reason to read that thing? -let alone bring it up _every_ year."   
  
"She's a book worm Ron." Harry said in a staged whisper. "I've heard if they don't read a book at least twice they die or -heaven forbid- Turn normal."   
  
"Oh be quite you two." Hermione huffed in good humor.   
  
Swallowing another bite Judith said, "Your not alone. I love reading too."   
  
"UGH! Their twins!" Ron made a face and Harry laughed.   
  
"I wonder." Judith whispered. "If there isn't a spell somewhere in all of Hogwarts' library that could force them to read and read and read till they got sick of words."   
  
"Too late we've already beat you to it." Ron said and helped himself to his 3rd - or was it his 4th? - plate already. Harry was close behind him while Judith and Hermione were barely half finished their first helping.   
  
She guessed that Harry had been left to the poor meals of his relatives once again. He was a skinny boy. But then again Ron was too and Judith didn't doubt he ate the same disgustingly large amount of food at home as she witnessed him inhale tonight. Since she seemed to be on friendly terms with the three of them she decided to make the introductions needed for appearances.   
  
"Seeing that you've," Judith pointed her fork toward Hermione, "already been introduced offhandedly to me by the Headmaster I was wonder who you two are?" She looked expectantly at the boys.   
  
Ron straightened up immediately and smiled which seemed to make his smattering of freckles more visible, if that were possible. "Well I'm Ron Weasley! And my mate here," he wrapped his left arm around Harry who smiled but seemed a little subdued. "Is Harry Potter."   
  
Judith smiled and politely extended her hand for a shake toward Ron. They shook firmly for a moment and then she expectantly turned toward Harry. She made no mention of his status of fame knowing it likely made him edgy. At the moment he seemed to be silently waiting for an outburst of: "_Oh my gosh, you're the boy who lived!_" When she silently made it clear that the cliche outburst was not coming he too grasped her hand and looked into her eyes. The simple dark green eyes seemed to be thankful.   
  
  
  
TBC


End file.
